The Mission
by The Andromeda Rose
Summary: Shadow is assigned on a mission with a Japanese girl - Maxine Masato- who's sick, and he has to take care of her, before they can leave on their mission. Shadow resentfully cares for Maxine, and learns an unexpected surprise, and develops a close father-daughter relationship with her.


"Agent Robotnik." stated the elderly Commander gravely, "Your partner in this assignment will be Maxine Masato, Olgilvie "Sonic" Maurice, and Silver Tsurumi." the Commander read over the form he held in his hands carefully, "They will—"  
"Sir, I work _alone._ I cannot take an assigned partn—"  
"Shadow, I understand your desire to work alone, but we cannot allow you to take this risk and travel Mobius alone. You must take a partner or fail the mission."  
"But, Sir—"  
"No but's, Agent Robotnik! Now that's an order!" he shouted, pointing his finger as if it were a dagger at the bi-toned hedgehog. He pressed a button on the phone on his desk, "Ms. Fralte, please send Agent Masato into my office immediately."  
"Yes, Commander." came back the reply.  
"Now, Shadow, your mission doesn't start until two weeks from now. Agents Tsurumi and Maurice will be meeting you here at G.U.N. headquarters three days before your mission begins. I want you to take the time before your mission to adjust to working with a partner, and I'm also assigning your team members to live with you during the last three days before your mission begins in your government provided home."  
"I hope they'll be out by the time this mission is over."  
_"Unfortunately_ for you _Shadow,_ Masato will be your _permanent_ partner for the time being." he paused, watching the hedgehog's reaction. He immediately interrupted him when Shadow had opened his mouth, beginning a word, _"And_ that means she and the other two agents will all be working with you on future assignments as well. And another thing, Agent Robotnik," he continued as-a-matter-of-factly, "there is no other government provided home that we can send Masato to besides your own home. All other G.P.H.'s are either full, or too far for her to travel to the main base all the time." **(A/N: G.P.H. – "government provided home/house")**  
"Yes, Sir." the hedgehog saluted the G.U.N. Commander before turning his attention to the hissing of the pressurised door and the fact that a young woman stood beside him, now standing at attention. Immediately, Shadow sensed something odd about the girl, but couldn't quite pick out what it was.  
"At ease." the Commander gestured to the ebony hedgehog beside her, "Agent Maxine Masato, this is Agent Floyd "Shadow" Robotnik. You two will be partnering on a top secret mission across Mobius, collecting top secret information from Dr. Eggman's bases. Your other team members are not here yet, but they will be here three days prior to your mission's start date. They are Olgilvie Kay Michaels Maurice, and Shiruba Tsurumi."  
"Permission to speak, Sir."  
"Granted."  
"When will our mission begin, Commander?" when she spoke, the girl had a thick British accent, but pronounced some words with a Japanese accent, which Shadow understood more quickly than the Commander, whose facial expressions gave away that he misunderstood the girl.  
"In two weeks. Until then, you will be living with Shadow."  
"Understood, Sir."  
"Shadow!" barked to Commander, "Is that understood with you as well?"  
"Yes, it is, Commander."  
"Good. You are dismissed. Take Masato to her new home immediately, Shadow, and monitor her for the next week. She hasn't been feeling well lately, and if she doesn't recover soon, she may not be able to go on this mission."  
Biting back a piece for the Commander, Shadow simply nodded, then exited the office, leaving Maxine to follow along slowly.  
The Commander glanced up from the paperwork he had just picked up, and noticed the hedgehog's dismissive attitude toward the girl. Angrily he shouted, "Let her catch up with you too! And don't forget to care for her! That's an order, Robotnik! We will have surveillance and probation on you if you refuse."  
Grumbling, the hedgehog slowed down to a halt and waited for Maxine to catch up to her. He glanced to the girl, noticing her pale complexion, then glanced back to the Commander who nodded approvingly, then took her messenger bag off her shoulder and gently grasped her arm, leading her away toward the elevators.

Once in the elevator, Shadow took a detailed note of the girl's appearance: she was petite-sized, and was fair-skinned with a light tan, she had blue eyes, and long, light brown hair in a braid. She wore cargo pants, a tank top with a lightweight plaid shirt over it, and hiking boots. Her over-all appearance was that of a tomboy, however, she wore a delicate blue beaded necklace, small salmon hoop earrings, and a silver metal bracelet. She also wore makeup which was not gaudy, but enough to bring out her features beautifully, and one thing he found quite interesting about the girl, is that her choice of finger nail polish colour was _black._

"Egh…" the girl softly grasped the hedgehog's hand and leaned against his warm body. The hand she had grasped pulled away a little a first, then stiffened as her hand closed around it, but soon relaxed shortly after.

The soothing sound of the elevator's mechanics stopped as the steel doors slid open. Shadow helped the young girl out into the lobby where the pungent scent of coffee and vanilla become prominent. He led the girl to one of the couches.  
"I want you to stay here. I'll be back in a few minutes with our ride."  
"Don't worry, Robotnik san."  
"Don't call me that, Masato san. My name is just Shadow."  
"Okay, Shadow." the girl smiled partly, but Shadow could tell that from the girl's expression, that she was fighting to remain stronger than the illness, "And you just call me "Max" or "Maxine." "  
"Are you okay, eh, Max…ine?" he brushed a strand of hair out of her face, watching her worriedly. He didn't know what it was, but there was something about the girl that made him feel sorry for her, and wanted to care for her even more so than before.  
"Y-yeah…I'm okay." she paused, looking out the massive glass window for a moment, seeing a G.U.N. vehicle pulling a trailer behind it, "Oh, Shadow, I need to pick up my things before we leave the base."  
"Where are they?"  
"In the warehouse on the east wing of the base. I have my key with me if you want to get it now, and I need to get my SUV before we leave, as well."  
"Are you feeling well enough to drive your car?"  
"That's how I got here this morning, and that's how I intend to leave the base."  
"If you say so…" he turned, leaving for the door, "I'll go get my motorcycle, then we'll drive over to the warehouse."

In about an hour, Shadow and Maxine had loaded her trailer with her belongings, which wasn't very much. She only had a rollaway bed, a few boxes of clothes, electronics, blankets, a pillow, a box of food, camping equipment and tools for missions, and a few boxes of helpful books. Plus her cat, Tiger, and her pet hedgehog, Critter, in the back of her vehicle.

"Max, I think I should drive instead. I can put my motorcycle in the trailer, and you can rest."  
"Uh…thank you, Shadow." she smiled at the hedgehog as he pushed his motorcycle into the trailer, then hugged him, "You're very sweet, Shadow. I like you."  
"Uh…wh-wha—? M-Max, I'm only helping you because you're sick, and you need to get well for our mission."  
"Oh. I-I thought that maybe…" Maxine blushed as all hopes of becoming close friends with the ebony hedgehog vanished.  
"Maybe what?" he prodded.  
"Well, I just thought that maybe we could become friends is all, Shadow."  
"Rather, _allies."_ he corrected, staring out the windshield of the vehicle intensely, "I may have helped you, but that's the Commander's _orders._ I'm not your friend. I'm just an agent working with another agent on a mission. That's all the farther our friendship will go."

With that said, the two left for Shadow's home, neither saying a word besides Max pointing out something along the way to try to start conversation, but failed when Shadow said one or maybe two short sentences in return, making the trip home rather uncomfortable and quiet between the two.

XXX

About an hour later, they arrived at Shadow's house, a small home in a quiet neighbourhood. It was white, with red and grey awnings covering the windows and porch.  
"Aw! Such a cute little house! I like it, Shadow!" Max squealed with delight at the sight of Shadow's home.  
"Thank you, Max. It took a lot of work to fix it up, and it's still being renovated as it is."  
"Really? It doesn't look so." she climbed out of the SUV, then turned around to pick up her hedgehog, and the cage which contained her cat.  
"Maxine, you shouldn't be carrying those – they are too heavy for you, you're a young lady."  
"If I can go on missions as a male can, then I can carry these!" she pouted, "I know I shouldn't, but I don't like feeling helpless."  
"Max…?" Shadow glanced over at the girl, biting his lip..maybe his assumption was right? He studied the girl closely, watching her nervously fumble with her fingers and biting her own lips, "Let's…Let's get inside. I want you to lie down while I get the rest of your things."  
"No, I want to help—"  
_"Maxine, please,_ I don't think you should be working." he pulled slid the key into the lock, and opened the door, revealing the living room, "…I'm just worried about you guys. I don't want you getting hurt."  
"You…guys?" Maxine blushed, hugging herself. How had he figured that out so quickly? She studied the ebony creature intently, waiting for an answer, but one never came as he led her to a bedroom, and told her to stay put, then left for her other belongings. Getting up, she walked toward the door and shut it, and set her little pet hedgehog on the ground, allowing him to wander about the new room. She also opened the cage for her cat, Tiger, and allowed him to explore the room as well.  
She, too, glanced about the room, it was large, and had a bed, a desk, a small table, dresser, and a kitchenette.

This…was going to be a long two weeks.


End file.
